Quick answer
This page lists 127 CPU and GPU pairings with their estimated bottleneck at 1080p, 1440p and 4K for a typical AAA game at high settings. A CPU bottleneck % is the share of the GPU left idle; GPU-limited is normal for gaming. For a pair that isn’t listed, use the PC Bottleneck Calculator.
Each page below is a pre-built bottleneck estimate for one specific CPU and GPU pairing, broken down by 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, so you can check a popular combination without entering anything yourself. These use the same gaming-performance scores (placed from published review averages) as the interactive PC Bottleneck Calculator — if the exact pairing you’re considering isn’t listed here, that calculator lets you check any CPU and GPU combination directly.
Find your CPU in the table below (slowest first):
A quick way to read these: the estimate tells you which part — the CPU or the GPU — is more likely to be the limiting factor for that pairing at a given resolution, and roughly by how much. A CPU bottleneck percentage is the share of the graphics card left idle because the CPU can’t keep up (under 6% balanced, 6–14% mild, 15–29% noticeable, 30% or more severe). “GPU-limited” is the normal case for gaming and means the graphics card sets the frame rate. The table below shows every pairing at a glance; each row links to its full page. For the reasoning behind why the same pairing can look CPU-bound at 1080p and GPU-bound at 4K, see CPU Bottleneck Explained and GPU Bottleneck Explained.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these bottleneck percentages exact?
No — they’re an estimate from our gaming-performance scores, not a lab-measured benchmark result. Real bottleneck behavior depends on the specific game engine, driver version, RAM speed, background load, and settings used. Use these pages to spot an obviously mismatched pairing, not as a guarantee of the exact number you’d see in a specific game.
What if my exact CPU and GPU combination isn't listed?
Use the PC Bottleneck Calculator directly — it covers every CPU and GPU in our database, not just the pairings pre-built below.
Does a high bottleneck percentage mean I should avoid that pairing?
Not necessarily. Even a pairing with a double-digit estimated bottleneck can still deliver strong, playable frame rates — a bottleneck simply means one part has spare capacity the other can’t fully use, not that the system performs badly.